This was United's fourth visit to the Arena since it opened for business back in 2003 - although it's no longer a dedicated football venue and is now home to Darlington Mowden Park Rugby club.

The Quakers are currently tenants at the Heritage Park home of Northern League Bishop Auckland, as they prepare a return "home" by ground sharing with Darlington Rugby Club at Blackwell Meadows.

Magpies @ Arena:

Our debut here was for a reserve game in March 2004, when a Magpies XI including Kieron Dyer were beaten 1-4 at what was then the Reynolds Arena. 

A 7-2 first team pre-season victory came in July 2009, while a similar meeting two years later in July 2011 ended in a 2-0 win, somewhat overshadowed by a ridiculous pitch invasion. Haris Vuckic was the sole surviving player from that 2011 game in action today. 

Defender Curtis Good began his latest comeback from injury and there was a first sighting of recent arrival, attacker Yasin Ben El-Mhanni. On-trial forward Favio Da Silva made a second appearance after a 45 minute run-out at Bradford Park Avenue the previous Sunday, but defender George Ede and midfielder Tyler Harvey weren't present here after having faced PA as trialists.

Pre-season pitch time (in minutes):

Dan Barlaser 45+58=103
Gael Bigirimana 45+58=103
Stefan Broccoli 45+45=90
Kyle Cameron 45+45=90
Luke Charman 0+32=32
Flavio Da Silva 45+32=77
George Ede 45+0=45
Yasin Ben El-Mhanni 0+45=45
Stuart Findlay 45+45=90
Liam Gibson 45+0=45
Macaulay Gillesphey 45+45=90
Alex Gilliead 45+58=103
Curtis Good 0+45=45
Nathan Harker 45+90=135
Tyler Harvey 45+0=45
Jamie Holmes 45+32=77
Sean Longstaff 45+32=77
Michael Newberry 0+45=45
Callum Roberts 45+45=90
Lubo Satka 45+45=90
Ben Smith 45+0=45
Liam Smith 45+0=45
Ivan Toney 45+58=103
Haris Vuckic 45+58=103
Dan Ward 45+32=77
Callum Williams 45+45=90

Waffle

While their first-team counterparts were banging them in for fun across the Irish Sea, United's U21 side enjoyed a goal-fest of their own closer to home on Saturday.

Sporting their new navy blue and orange away kit, Peter Beardsley's second-string enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine at the Northern Echo Arena, bagging three first-half goals and two after the break.

In front of a crowd of over two-and-a-half thousand, Darlington were undone thanks to impressive displays from winger Callum Roberts and Haris Vuckic, while new arrival Yasin Ben El-Mhanni (pictured below) caught the eye after his introduction at half-time.

The visitors started brightly and could have taken the lead in the opening minutes had number nine Ivan Toney's header found the target following Roberts' pinpoint cross. 

But the deadlock was broken after just seven minutes when Vuckic netted surely the easiest goal of his career, tapping in from half-a-yard out after Toney's deflected shot hit the woodwork.

Darlo briefly threatened when forward Liam Hardy's shot from distance fizzed over the bar before Toney's bright start was rewarded on 12 minutes, doubling United's lead with a well-placed free kick from all of 25-yards.

Centre-back Gary Brown came to Darlington's rescue mid-way through the half, clearing a powerful Roberts shot off the line before Alex Gilliead's follow-up struck a post.

A hugely one-sided opening almost got worse for the home side when Gael Bigirimana broke and fed Toney, who forced an excellent one-handed stop from Peter Jameson.

And Jameson was at it again eight minutes before the break, denying Vuckic from close range following some intricate build-up play down the right between Gilliead and the Slovenian.

Vuckic, however, played a huge supporting role in United's third shortly before the break, slipping the ball through to Roberts who rounded Jameson before netting from a tight angle via a defender.

The first-half was wrapped up with a bizarre incident which lead to Darlington's only goal of the game and left many inside the stadium scratching their heads.

Newcastle keeper Nathan Harker - largely a spectator in the opening 45-minutes - was put under immense pressure following a wayward pass from Bigirimana, and ended up challenging for the ball outside his penalty area as a result.

The former Cramlington Juniors stopper was dispossessed on the edge of the 18-yard box before appearing to handle the ball. Referee Geoff Eltrincham then blew his whistle and signalled a free-kick to Darlo, but chose to keep his cards firmly in his pocket.

The let-off was short lived though, Lewis Nightingale's resultant delivery met by Hardy's glancing header which looped beyond Harker, in the last action of the half.

A flood of United substitutions at the break saw the entire back-four replaced, while further forward, Roberts - arguably Newcastle's best player in the opening half - was replaced by El-Mhanni.

And within two minutes, one of those subs - Slovakian defender Lubo Satka - increased the visitors' lead with a free header in front of the posts after a precise delivery from Gilliead.

Darlington's centre-back pairing of Brown and skipper Kevin Burgess combined to almost pulled one back for the home side when an acrobatic effort from the latter fell kindly for Brown, but his snatched effort sailed harmlessly over the bar.

United trialist Flavio Da Silva, one of a further five changes made by Beardsley shortly before the hour-mark, then tried his luck from distance but saw his curling effort go wide of the left-hand post.

And he was involved in United's fifth eight minutes from time after his snap-shot was deflected into the path of Sean Longstaff, who finished emphatically after some excellent build-up from El-Mhanni.

(Many thanks to @dansheridan for report & photos)